Charges against Thomas Ray Crew for the Rancho Mirage shooting of a woman have been upgraded to first-degree premeditated murder, according to Pinal County Superior Court and Arizona Judicial Branch records databases.
Crew, 46, was initially charged with attempted murder for the May 15 shooting of 43-year-old Nereira Crew. The charge has been upgraded since the indictment was filed May 21.
It isn’t clear why the charges were upgraded, as the victim is alive albeit with catastrophic injuries, according to Maricopa police officials.
The shooting happened in the early evening of a Thursday. Sources with knowledge of the case said Nereira Crew was shot twice in the head, a detail that police have not formally confirmed. According to neighbors on the scene, Thomas Crew came out of the house holding a pistol and laid face down in the street until police arrived and arrested him. Nereira Crew, née Greene, is believed to be Thomas Crew’s sister-in-law.
In addition to the premeditated murder charge, Thomas Crew is facing other felony charges for kidnapping Aviena Love, a Rancho Mirage resident, and another person believed to be a minor, identified only by the initials S.M. Thomas Crew is also charged with the aggravated assault of Nereira Crew. All four counts are classified as domestic violence offenses and considered dangerous felonies involving firearms.
The victim’s digital footprint offers some insight into her background since she had been a high school basketball player in Palo Alto, Calif., in 2000.
Nereira Crew worked at several colleges, including John Jay College in New York City and Alliant International University in San Diego, Calif. She co-authored a research study titled Intergenerational Family Predictors of the Black–White Achievement Gap, which explored in 2009 how family dynamics influence educational disparities between Black and White adolescents. Her areas of expertise included education, student development and educational administration. According to her LinkedIn profile, she was self-employed at the time of the incident.
Public records show Nereira Crew lives in Highland, Calif. A car with California plates was at the crime scene the night of the shooting.
Thomas Crew, who recently relocated to The Lakes at Rancho El Dorado from Southern California, according to public records, does not have any apparent history of violence in a broad review of court records in both California and Arizona. His LinkedIn profile lists him as the manager of a healthcare company based in Tempe.
Crew is scheduled to be arraigned tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. at the courthouse in Florence.
